


mi cielo

by tevna



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, i don't know why???????????
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-01-01
Packaged: 2018-05-10 21:47:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5602213
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tevna/pseuds/tevna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It was not the dress, it was not the make up, it was not the tiara, it was not the quince at all...even though those helped to make her feel beautiful. It was the recognition that apologies and shame were not necessary for something that could look like this and overcome all that she has.There was sudden peace because peace had been there all along, waiting for her to realize that she had literally touched death and won. There was nothing she couldn’t do.  Latina v. American, human v. chimera, dead v. undead, right kidney v. left kidney, girl v. woman. It didn’t seem to matter who won some of these battles, because either way the winner was her." Hayden has a quinceanera.</p>
            </blockquote>





	mi cielo

“Hey, Hayden,” Clarke yelled up the stairs, juggling bills in one hand and half of a cold beer in the other hand. Her boyfriend, Deputy Adams (or as Hayden liked to call him Meatball Mike), was ordering a pizza for them on the couch. “Can you come here a sec? Mike and I have something we want to talk to you about.” That meant just Clarke was gonna talk to her, another nickname for Mike was Mute Mike.

Hayden sighed, picking up her phone from the wall charger. She had just gotten up from her post-soccer nap and was about to get started on her homework. Clarke was probably gonna lay something on her that she wasn’t going to like very much if she waited until Hayden’s joints weren’t sore from all the drills. Waddling down the stairs in sweatpants and one of Liam’s practice hoodies, Hayden grunted appreciatively as Mike stated that the Pizza Hut would arrive in 15 minutes. Sitting across from Clarke, she eyed her sister.

“What’s up?” she looked down to examine a curious stain on the hoodie, ground in dirt from lacrosse or did Liam have a candy bar...?

“I just got off the phone with Aunt Amy and Uncle Luis, your godparents. They want to throw you a quince.” Clarke always cut to the chase with bad news.

“Val, no way.” Hayden said simply, in shock. “I turned 15 like 5 months ago.”

“I know, but you were sick then and they didn’t think it was a good time. They really want to do this, Hayden.” Clarke looked just as shocked as Hayden did.

“I don’t want a quinceanera.” Hayden shrugged. “I just don’t. You didn’t have one.”

“Yes I did. You were like 4 or 5, you just don’t remember it.” Clarke shrugged. “I still have the dress in the attic, it was firetruck red.” Mike let out a guffaw, mumbling something like “Not that I’ve gotta see”. Clarke smiled up at him, rolling her eyes, and took a swig of her beer.

“Don’t these take like a year to plan?” Hayden was desperately trying to get out of this. “By that time I’m going to be 16 already. And I don’t want a sweet 16 either, so tell Tia she can save her money for something more important. I guarantee, she’ll find one, like maybe my medical bills or a college fund. Something like that.”

She got up from the table to head upstairs before something, somehow could change her mind.

“Hey. Hayden. Wait a minute.” Clarke called after her as Mike went to go look for the pizza guy. 

“Clarke, I have homework!”

“ _ Mi cielo, por favor. _ ”

Hayden stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Clarke, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. She dared Clarke to find someway she would possibly agree to having a big flashy party for something that happened months and months ago. But she always stopped when Clarke used Spanish, something that they both knew but never used because sometimes the words and their meaning just hurt too much. 

“What?” English was much easier to swallow.

“Mom and Dad would have wanted you to have one, you know. A quince, I mean.” 

Clarke stated this bluntly. There was no change in pitch, tone, or inflection. Nothing was meant to persuade her. It was just a simple fact. Her parents would have loved to see her have a quinceanera. They would have loved the whole thing of it. And that’s probably why Tia Amy thought that this was a good thing, something she could do for her and Clarke. Reconnect them with the family they lost. 

Hayden didn’t say anything. She looked back down to the curious stain and tried to find a reply but she couldn’t speak past the small lump in her throat. For a second, she just stood there and tried to imagine a Beacon Hills quince. Sighing, she looked back down to Clarke with glassy eyes. 

“Call me when the pizza’s ready.”

|  
  


Hayden compromised and agreed to do a much smaller, much more limited, and much less traditional version of a quince. She did  _ not  _ want this to cost as much as a wedding or anything.  

Speaking of wedding, Tia Amy and Clarke made her ask Liam to be her escort as soon as she agreed to do this. It really felt like she was proposing. Before Clarke went on her deputy date with Mike, Parrish, and de facto deputies Derek and Braeden-- she gave Hayden their Tia's tips on how to approach the question (none of them good).

She was in the living room, wearing pajamas and watching a movie that Liam was really invested in and thinking about how to gently bring up that she needed her white werewolf boyfriend to attend this event with her that she really couldn’t even bring herself to care about...sometimes.She shoved the last bit of popcorn in her mouth, nervously trying to keep from talking so much, which was fine with Liam whose eyes were glued to the screen.

He noticed the lack of popcorn and paused the  movie, mumbling something about going to get more popcorn and a soda. Hayden nodded and sighed. She loved the normal days like this. The days in between resolution and new imminent doom. Why did she have to be so nervous?

“Hey Liam?” she called. He responded with a “my-mouth-is-full-but-what’s-up” grunt from the kitchen. 

“I was just...wondering,..if maybe, you could…” The words weren’t flowing. Liam entered from the kitchen, chugging a Dr. Pepper and waiting for what she had to say. He probably wanted to finish his movie. Hayden decided to start from the beginning. 

“So, you know I’m 15 right?”

“Yes…?”

“And you know I’m Latina, right?”

“Yes, yes I do.” he stated, chuckling. He took his seat back on the couch and she moved her legs into his lap.

“Well, sometimes Latina 15 year olds have these parties called quinceaneras, like sweet 16’s and bat mitzvahs. And I’m having one because my Tia, my aunt, all of a sudden just wanted me to have one and I thought that I should because my mom and dad would want me to and Clarke had one, so...I just wanna ask...if you’d go?” She said all of that in one breath.

Liam widened his eyes and grabbed her hand. “Of course…? Hayden, why wouldn’t I go? You remember that we date, right?”

“No, no, no.” Hayden shook her head. “I didn’t say it right. I’m asking you to like be my man of honor...it just means like my escort. You like...walk me in...and like take pictures and dance with me...and stuff like that, you know? I could ask someone else but...Clarke and Tia...I want it to be you.”   


Liam had been smiling at her since she said “honor”. He squeezed her hand, brought his face down to kiss her a bit, and then laughed.

“I’d love to. Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.” He pressed their foreheads together as Hayden breathed a sigh of relief.

“Anything?” Hayden smiled.

He nodded, kissing her one more time. “Anything”   
  


|

She did  _ not  _ want anyone in her court outside of her cousins. She thought of who she could ask and laughed at the idea of asking werewolves to waltz in her quinceanera court. She didn’t even want to invite them (she had to though, just in case something happened--god forbid a supernatural showdown went down mid-quince and Scott & co weren't there to save the day, she could only imagine). 

Val suggested asking Scott McCall to be one of the male escorts for her cousin and Hayden wanted to die, imagining true alpha Scott dancing with her 12 year old cousin. Eventually, Hayden didn’t have a choice when Clarke ran into Melissa McCall and it was decided for her. Scott texted her nothing but excited emojis that night and she could not have wanted to die more. 

“Why are you embarrassed?” Scott said the next day at lunch when Hayden visibly went pale at the mention of her quinceanera in two weeks. “It’s your heritage, it’s nothing to be ashamed of. I'm stoked.”

“I know, I know. God, you sound like Clarke.” Hayden rolled her eyes. “It’s just not me, you know. I’m not into all that princess stuff. Plus, like...God, I don’t know. Forget it, it’s stupid.”

“What is it? You can tell me, I promise. I won’t tell Liam or my mom. I might tell Kira though.” Scott bumped shoulders with her. “Come on, scout’s honor. Scott’s honor.”

“That was awful.”

“Just tell me.”

“I just...feel so disconnected, sometimes, from the culture. I can’t even call it mine. Without my parents here, I’ve never really touched base with my roots. Clarke tries sometimes but...I feel like its identity theft.” Hayden had never vocalized that feeling before. A huge weight felt lifted off of her shoulders and she kept going.

“I don’t speak Spanish. I don’t go to church. I don’t see family that often. I don’t want to feel shut out of both the American side and the Spanish side again. Mix in the whole almost dead thing, and supernatural boyfriend thing and...it just doesn’t feel good. You know?”

Scott McCall smiled at her, so understandingly that it hurt a little bit. He nodded and it was as if she’d never said a truer statement. 

“If it helps, at least I’ll be there to awkwardly make small talk with your cousins. Your Spanish probably sounds telenova worthy compared to my Spanish.” She felt warm with a gentle wave of empathy. Scott had been down this road before. 

“You didn’t have to do this, Scott. You could have said no. Don’t feel like you have to, I mean it, I can get someone else to dance with Lani.” Hayden placed a hand on Scott’s shoulder. He shrugged.

“Prom’s in a month, I was gonna need a tux of my own anyway. This way Kira doesn't have to wear baby blue.”

|

She especially did  _ not  _ want to do the church thing, one of the few things Tia Amy fought with her on, but compromised when stated they could do a shorter version of the ceremony.

In the dressing room, Clarke helped zip and tie Hayden up (“Suck it in!” “I can’t suck in ribs, Val!”) while Tia Amy found the rings, rosary, and the tiara. The tiara was special. Tia Amy pulled out her mother’s large and sparkly tiara from her quince, the one that Val also wore, which made Hayden want to cry a little bit but she swiped at her eyes. She allowed the guady tiara, as long as the dress was nothing too flashy. She did  _ not  _ want a catalog dress (she took one look at Val’s old pictures and died laughing). 

Tia Amy placed the crown on her head and she was ready. Looking in the mirror,she didn’t even look like herself.  The dress was silver, glittery in the places it needed to be and simple in the place it needed to be. It was less of a cupcake and more of a ballgown. They’d found it (on sale) at one of those prom dress shops and she loved it. She wouldn’t tell anyone, though. Her hair, fluffed and curled for the church ceremony, had been straightened down. Her make-up looked almost painted on. 

Clarke smiled at her, beaming underneath Mike’s arm in the background. Tia Amy was pulling out her handkerchief already.Hayden blinked, staring at herself.

“Hey.” Val said, touching her arm. She wrapped Hayden up in a hug from behind. 

“Yeah?” Hayden answered.

“I know...that ..like you felt weird about this. And that you felt like you don’t have a right to have a quince because we don’t go to church as much or because our parents aren’t here. But I just want you to know, I’m glad you did it. I want to celebrate you and I want you to celebrate you, even if it is 6 months too late.Okay,  _ mi cielo _ ?”   


“Okay, Val.”

“...Those 3 days you went missing…”

“It’s okay,Val.”

Hayden was quiet for a second, squeezing Clarke’s arm trying to let her know that she appreciated her for everything she does. “Thanks, Val.”

“Thank you, Hayden.”

|

Liam was good at being an escort for what it was worth. It was cute to see him interact with the baby cousins who just wanted to pull on his hair all day and the old aunties who spoke rapid fire Spanish (at least a million different dialects too) while pinching his cheeks.

Kira smiled widely at Scott as he lifted the 12 year old, who shrieked in laughter. Scott turned out to be amazing at the waltz, no surprise there. Hayden was pretty sure Lani was smitten with Scott McCall before the dance even started.During the dance, she could see Mason and Brett laughing at Liam but she rolled her eyes at them and encouragingly told him he was doing fine because she was just as bad. 

When it came time for her to dance with her father figure, she was going to pick her Uncle Luis because he was married to her Tia Amy (who had been planning this for months before even telling her). That was what she thought she was going to do. 

But then she caught Scott’s eye, sitting next to his mother and Stiles and Sheriff Stilinski. The boy, 18 years old and practically a grown man, was just positively beaming at his mother. There was just so much pride Scott had in being her son. Hayden didn’t know what happened to his dad, or who was a father figure in his life because it didn’t matter. As Scott placed an arm around his mother, Hayden’s mind was made up. She grabbed the microphone from the DJ before he could call her uncle to the stage.

“When I was little...my dad… he used to call me and my sister  _ ‘mi cielo _ ’. And I know that roughly translates into my sky.But it means, my everything. My world. My sister now, my guardian, the person who takes care of me and put shoes on my feet and clothes on my back and a roof over my head calls me that now. And I always used to wonder why I would stop in my tracks whenever she said that. I thought it was the Spanish, because Val and I usually don’t speak Spanish. It’s not though, It’s how much she reminds me of my dad. And my mom. And my sister. And my guardian. She is  _ mi cielo _ . And I mean it, kid.”  Hayden let Liam hand her a napkin.  “I love you, Val. Which is why I want to dance with you, right now.”

Hayden watched Val sashay-slash-run from the deputy table and onto the dance floor and crush her into a hug. Dancing with her sister barefoot was one of her favorite moments.

It even beat Tia Amy’s face when she realized Hayden was wearing soccer cleats underneath her gown when it was time to change the shoes.She laughed until she was wearing heels and her sides and feet started to hurt. That was what love felt like.

  
And there was peace with all the conflicts inside of her. 

It was not the dress, it was not the make up, it was not the tiara...even though those helped to make her feel beautiful. It was the recognition that apologies and shame were not necessary for something that could look like this and overcome all that she has.There was sudden peace because peace had been there all along, waiting for her to realize that she had literally touched death and won. There was nothing she couldn’t do.  Latina v. American, human v. chimera, dead v. undead, right kidney v. left kidney, girl v. woman. It didn’t seem to matter who won some of these battles, because either way the winner was her.


End file.
